When it comes to your money, it's really all personal.
Earnings Roundup
Earnings season for the second quarter is winding down. According to Refinitiv, 334 companies within the S&P 500 have reported. Approximately 80% have beaten analysts' estimates, while 16% missed. Within the Information Technology sector, 94% of the companies which have reported have beaten estimates. Similarly, both Health Care and Consumer Staples have, so far, exhibited beats of 92% and 91%, respectively. To date, earnings for the second quarter have declined 6.6% year-over-year (YOY). With 166 companies yet to report, analysts currently estimate a YOY decline of 5.4% in earnings of the S&P 500.
A Downgrade of U.S.
On Tuesday, Fitch Ratings “downgraded the United States of America’s Long-Term Foreign-Currency Issuer Default Rating (IDR) to ‘AA+’ from ‘AAA’. The Rating Watch Negative was removed, and a Stable Outlook assigned.”
Fitch communicated their downgrade, “reflects the expected fiscal deterioration over the next three years, a high and growing general government debt burden, and the erosion of governance relative to ‘AA’- and ‘AAA'-rated peers over the last two decades that has manifested in repeated debt limit standoffs and last-minute resolutions.”
Market reaction to this downgrade has yet to play out. Recall the market reaction precipitated after S&P initiated a similar action in August 2011. The S&P 500 dropped 4.8% after the announcement. It then waddled its way through various downturns culminating in an overall decline of 5.5% during that month. It then went on to decline by 7.0% in September 2011.
On the Economic Front
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